It's been awhile...return to Tropical Star

So far we've had San Diego's infamous (yet normal) June Gloom...

I was craving a fried pastelillo...TC was game for anything that afternoon.

I'd been wanting to come back here for so long so today was the day...

"God, That's good!" or a meat pie by any other name...

This movie was a bit on the gruesome side and it was a bit disturbing find out later what was REALLY in those pies...

also known as the "best meat pies in London", heh heh.

Luckily these meat filled pastries that I've tried over the past few months weren't filled with murdered humans...

Latin Chef & Azucar

I am on a roll people. I'm frantically trying to post all these backlogged entries before I leave for NYC next week. I'll be visiting N & L in Astoria, Queens and hanging out with them for a few days. It's still Saturday, September 6 despite the date you see this being posted. About a week after we ate at Asia Cafe, the same friend and I went to Latin Chef in PB. I was worried about parking because parking always seems to suck in PB. Well, lo and behold, there was a space right in front. Score! We wanted to eat at Latin Chef because both of us aren't familiar with Peruvian food. I've only had it once, at El Dorado on Palomar Street and 3rd in Chula Vista. Plus, I've read reviews from other food bloggers that were favorable, so Latin Chef it was.

We got there, and turned out to be the only people in the place almost the whole time. Actually, some beach bunny chicks came in but left. Oh and some guy came in, but only to get water for his dog's water bowl (he sat outside). The only person we saw was the lone waitress who turned out to be from Taiwan. We weren't sure if she was from Peru (well, Peru does have Asians). Latin Chef's free appetizer are fried and salted corn kernels called "canchitas". These were okay - not very filling if that's what you're going for.

We got to pick where we wanted to sit since it was so not busy. It seemed pretty clean. It was small, but not tiny and our waitress was very nice.

We perused the menu...

My friend got the special of the day, which was a good deal, $8.90 for two items with salad and rice and a soda. The one of the left was mine, the Inka cola, which was not really a cola, but more of a super sweet soft drink of untraceable flavor origin. When I hear the word 'cola', I think of something that tastes Coca-Cola or Pepsi-like. This tasted like a melted Jolly Rancher. Some ice would have been nice too. The drink was cold though, but yeah, ice next time please. Hers was the purplish one (Chicha Morada) - it had a faint bit of a spice taste to it. Not spicy hot, but something else I can't put my finger on. We kept joking that she should have ordered (if they offered it) the Peruvian drink where they spit in it.

Here's her entree - the fried fish with Aji Gallena (chicken with yellow chili sauce) with rice and salad. According to the description on the menu and from what I could read in my scratchy handwritten notes, the aji gallena was supposed to be served with boiled eggs and olives on top. As you can see, both are MIA, but we didn't really notice until after the fact and at that point, who cares right? Her fish was so good - the batter was very light. It wasn't greasy at all. I wish I'd ordered what she had...

I got the Lomo Saltado which is beef with onions and tomatoes served with french fries. The sauce was also very delicious - it had a bit of a tang to it and wasn't too salty (like the one I had at El Dorado). I think my husband would like this, being a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Mmmm...lomo!

For dessert we ordered one each. We chose the alfajores (Peruvian caramel cookies) and the lucuma (egg fruit) ice cream. The cookies were tiny and bite size, sprinkled with powdered sugar and the sides rolled in coconut. The caramel filling was super sweet. Sugar overload! These would have been good with coffee (If I drank the stuff).

Here's the lucuma ice cream. I was suprised they gave us so many scoops. We ended up not finishing it actually. That's a first. We normally scarf everything! The lucuma fruit grows only in Peru. We both thought that the flavor was kind of starchy, kind of like ube (purple yam). It wasn't too sweet either, but it was still refreshing to have a bit of ice cream on a hot day...

After having two desserts, we wanted...more dessert! There was a write up on this new Cuban cafe type place in OB so we took the scenic route and headed over to Newport Ave to Azucar.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the interior. Too many people. It was kind of crowded. Lots of moms and their babies there. I liked the color scheme - very bright and tropical. Lots of lime green and dark brown. There were some pretty floral arrangements by the display cases which held different kinds of pastries (many were $1.50), cookies, and sweets. There was another case that had fancier desserts (those cost about $5 or more).

Since I was still kind of full from lunch, I only got a tiny pastry - the rolled cream cheese pastry ($1.50). I was surprised that it was served warm. I don't like my pastries hot or even close to warm, but it was okay. Not mind blowing.

My friend got the guava puff pastry, also $1.50. This was kind of plain. I could make this myself

with Pepperidge farm puff pastry from Ralph's and spread some guava jelly in there and bake that shit up. Does that tell you anything? I'm sure the other desserts, especially the fancier French ones, are wonderful, but the ones we picked weren't that great. Maybe next time we'll try the owner's other offerings and maybe even try her Cuban sandwiches.

This was a meat pie I bought for Bert. It was kind of small. Sorry, no cross section of it here since I bought it to go. But the filling was beef with a lot of green pepper in it. This was also $1.50. It was okay, but I'd rather eat a more substantial meat pie. This was a dinky appetizer sized portion.

It was fun driving around in PB to get to OB - taking the scenic route and listening to 80's music in her truck. It's been nice for me to get out of the house and enjoy lunch out. Summertime is usually the time for me to do this with her because once school starts, no more lunch outings on the weekdays.

Tropical Star

A few days ago, we decided to have lunch at Tropical Star , a Latin American restaurant located in the Balboa Crest Strip mall on Balboa. It's next to Chinese place called Noble Chef. Here's one
review and here is my favorite food blogger's take on this place. It had been awhile since we 'd been here. It's a tiny place and it was packed when we arrived. The patio tables out front were also fully occupied. Lucky for us, I had a coupon from my Entertainment Savings book. Buy 1 entree and get 1 free.

Cheapie that I am, I already had frozen waters but wanted to get a Goya raspberry soda nonetheless.
After we placed our orders, we stood outside and out of the corner of my eye, noticed that the couple in one of the front tables had left. We quickly moved in like birds of prey. Bert noticed this sign behind me, posted on the restaurant's window:
Our appetizers arrived first. We ordered the empanadas (2 for $2.50) as well as tostones ($2.50). When I saw the empanadas, I knew I made a mistake because what I meant to order were the pastelillos (Puerto Rican style empanadas). These empanadas were Colombian and the coating was cornmeal based, instead of flour. They still tasted all right, but I like the pastelillos's light flaky crust much better. Next time!We ordered this dish solely because it has arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) for TC. This was called Pastel y Arroz con Gandules (Combo #6). It's of Puerto Rican origin and consists of aforementioned rice with salad and a tamal (or 'pastel') of banana leaves wrapped around grated green bananas and seasoned pork. We planned to share our entrees.

This was the other entree, Combo #9 - The Bistec Encebollada, which was pan fried beef topped with sauted onions and tomatoes with white rice and beans.

I snagged one of the pieces of beef and helped myself to a bit of the rice and beans. The beef, unfortunately was a bit too dry for my liking. It was thin and chewy in parts.

This is the unwrapped pastel - the pork was tender and it had olives, potatoes as well as shredded green bananas in the filling.

Before we left, I made a few snack purchases. They ran out of a certain brand of 'obleas' which are round, thin wafer-like discs. I didn't realize that this package contained a small contained of dulce de leche already, hence the price of $3.49. The package I used to buy had 24 small ones and was cheaper than $2.49.Here is a small jar of dulce de leche (caramel). You spread this on one of the wafer discs and top it off with another disc. A delicious snack! This was $2.99 I believe. They have other jars with 'fig' and 'coconut' flavors availabl as well as larger sized jars.

I got the last bag of plantain chips ($1.59) which are even better than potato chips. These are light and crunchy!

I couldn't resist buying this version of Oreos called 'Negrescos' by Nestle. Oreos taste better. These had a funky flavor to it. Reminds me of the cookies they put in those huge tins of 'biscuits' they sell in Asian stores.